1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to technology for managing data using rules.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the growth of the Internet, the use of networks and other information technologies, Identity Systems have become more popular. In general, an Identity System provides for the creation, removal, editing and other managing of identity information stored in various types of data stores. The identity information pertains to users, groups, organizations and/or things. For each entry in the data store, a set of attributes are stored. For example, the attributes stored for a user may include a name, address, employee number, organization, region, telephone number, email address, user ID and password. The Identity System can also manage access privileges that govern what an entity can view, create, modify or use in the Identity System. Often, this management of access privileges is based on one or more specific attributes, membership in a group and/or association with an organization.
Entities managed by an Identity System may require access to or be associated with a variety of data and resources that may be internal or external to the Identity System. For example, a user may need job codes identifying tasks performed by resources, information about various resources, information from other entities managed by the Identity System, approval from other entities to perform tasks, cooperation from other entities to perform tasks, etc. These dependencies create management and maintenance problems for administrators of the Identity System. For example, when creating an entry for a new user, the person creating the entry needs to know which resources are available to that user and which other entities are associated with that new user (e.g. assistants, managers, partners, etc.). Additionally, as the information about resources and associated entities change, the entry for the new user must be updated.
Therefore, there is a need to provide an improved system for managing data in an Identity System that reduces the management and maintenance effort.